Data from: Structure of benthic communities along the Taiwan latitudinal gradient

Lauriane Ribas-Deulofeu^1,2,3, Vianney Denis^3,4, Stéphane De Palmas^1,2,3, Chao-Yang Kuo⁵, Hernyi Justin Hsieh⁶, Chaolun and Chaolun Allen Chen^2,3,4*

¹Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan,
²Taiwan International Graduate Program-Biodiversity, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan,
³Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan,
⁴Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan,
⁵ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia,
⁶Penghu Marine Biological Research Centre, Makong, Penghu County, 880, Taiwan

Overview

This repository contains the dataset used in the study published in PLOSONE titled "IStructure of benthic communities along the Taiwan latitudinal gradient". The research documents the structure of benthic communities around Taiwan, by comparing its assemblages in four regions, analyzing the effects of the latitudinal gradient, and highlighting regional characteristics. Surveys were performed between 2011 and 2012.

Files in the repository

1. Supplementary File S1 - R script | Data analyses

- Text file containing the R code to re-perform all the statistical analyses performed in the published paper.

2. Supplementary File S2- Data Sheet 1 | Benthic communities raw

- Data file containing the benthic composition at transect level, in point count.

3. Supplementary File S3 - Data Sheet 2 | Major category cover raw

- Data file containing the benthic composition at major category and transect level, in point count.

4. Supplementary File S4 - Metadata 1 | Site Information

- Data file containing information such at region category and latitude of the survey sites.

<strong>5. Supplementary File S5 - Metadata 2 | OTU factor</strong>
<blockquote> - Data file attributiong each OTU to a major category.</blockquote>

Field Survey

Within four major regions, 25 sites around Taiwan were selected for this study, including four in north Taiwan, six at Penghu, four at Green Island, and eleven at Kenting (Fig 1).

Benthic assessment

Benthic communities were conducted in 2011-2012, using five 20-meter-long photo-transects at each site. A total of 105 photographs (0.5 m x 0.5 m) were captured per site. The photographs were analyzed using CPCe v4.0 software, with 50 random points overlaid on each picture to identify benthic organisms at the most reasonable operational taxonomic unit (OTU) possible, considering the limitation of taxonomic identification via photography. Thirteen major categories (hard coral: HC, soft coral: SF, macro-algae: MA, encrusting coralline algae: ECA, turf algae: TU, zoanthids: ZO, sponges: SP, Antipatharia: AT, sea anemones: AN, ascidians: AS, other living organisms: OL, bare substrate: BS, and unknown: UN).

Citation

If you find this dataset or methodology useful, please cite the associated paper:
Ribas-Deulofeu L, Denis V, De Palmas S, Kuo CY, Hsieh HJ, Chen CA. Structure of benthic communities along the Taiwan latitudinal gradient. PLoS ONE 11(8): e0160601. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0160601.

License

These datasets are available under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CCBY). The use, distribution, or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original authors and that the original publication is cited, per accepted academic practice.